History Vanishing Americana--the drive in movie theater

We had two on opposite ends of town here in Santa Maria. The one on the North end shut down years ago and has houses on it now. The other is still open all year. Still looks like it did when I was a kid. Lot's and lot's of memories there. I hope it never goes away, me and the wife still go whenever there is a good movie playing

 

I loved going as a kid and take my family as much as possible today. We're fortunate enough to still have 3 different operating drivein theaters within 30 miles of us. In all honesty, they are a real deal for the whole family. The one we frequent the most is only $7 for adults, $3 for the kids and you see two movies, one new and the other, newer and it has three screens. The food is reasonable as well if we don't have our own with us. There's just something about the experience that you don't get anywhere else whether it's seeing a movie in your pj's as a kid, getting busy in the back seat as a young adult or relaxing with a drink with your family and friends.

Here's their site:
http://www.elmroadtripledrivein.com/

 

Starlight Drive-In... just outside of Atlanta

that place has got to be 1 of the coolest venues around

 

Just found this site for the one in Guthrie OK;

http://www.beacondrive-in.com/

Now to organize the gang.........

 

Lost highway

 

We are lucky enough to still have on about 16 miles away,double features ,Friday,Sat.,Sunday. The guy has a flea market on Sat,Sun. all the old post speakers are gone,just tune to A.M. station on car radio. the old drive-in speakers are selling at swapmeets for $25 to $30 got 4 in the shed, steamed up windows and signs on side of vans saying,( IF THIS VANS A- ROCKING DON"T BOTHER KNOCKING) those were some good times.

 

I remember going to the Sundown Drive-In in Whittier as a kid. We lived basically right behind it. I could go to a friends house, we'd climb on his roof and watch movies without sound. In the late '70s-early '80s, I saw my first b@@bies and other naughty parts when they started showing X-rated movies. I saw my first graphic violence when my parents took me with them to see "The Godfather", expecting me to be asleep by the time the movie got going. I clearly remember seeing Sonny get whacked at the toll plaza. Hmmm...maybe that's what's wrong with me. I also remember the Fiesta Drive-in which I think was in Montebello or Pico Rivera...

 

Still got an active one here in Reno. Its nice with paved pitched parking and they have a swap meet there sat and sun mornings in the summer.

 

Lost ours several years ago. An assisted care facility is there now.

 

Gosh, if somebody had shown up to the HAMB-B-Q a couple of weeks ago they could have been in a cool car that cruised right up to that Kanopolis drive in.

 

cool thread..!

 

We had 3 of them in Rapid City. One is a hundred foot deep quarry now. One has a salvation Army store in its place and the last one's screen is still standing next to I90.

 

There are three here in KC still, the one my local OT club has several GTG's at is the Boulevard, right in the heart of town, right next to a freeway and of course, the railroad track. There's also a nice creek nearby to supply the requisite mosquitos!

They have a yearly "Greasers" swap meet, car show, music etc, other weekends they open days for the flea market and movies in the evenings. They were the first drive in to introduce digital sound - and yet you still can't understand most of the dialog, unless you're in your car with the FM turned to the frequency they're broadcasting on....

 

We have one just down the road. Still going strong with two screens!

 

We have to within 30 miles of here used to be three more but one got shut down in the 80's for showing pron facing the road,two is now a showplace 8 and three is a fleamarket.Where i used to live there was two,One still has the screen up but is a mobile home sales lot (the owner will screw you any way he can,ask me how i know) the other is now the unemployment office.Alot of good memories from those,I always drove a jacked up 4X4 so i could peep and not be peeped at myself( nothing like being in the act and looking up to see somebodys nose pressed against the window)

 

funny. i was thinking the same thing.

and we watched movies on the side of the barn- just like a drive-in!!!

 

I worked at one for a couple of summers in high school (mid-sixties) making french fries in the concession. Most fun job I ever had. The employees were like one big family.

We worked six nights a week and got paid in cash. Inside the pay envelope would be two passes to the drive in, so on my night off I brought my girl to the movies in my 1951 Ford.

 

The old drive-in in my home town of Clayton Ga. opened in 1954 and closed down sometime in the eighties was reopened a few years back by the same family, check out their website- www.tigerdrivein.com

 

Theres a Drive-in about two miles from my house at the Montclair/Pomona area called the Tiki. 4 screens and they show 2 movies. It's open year round.

 

This one was just north of Anthony, Kansas.

 

There are TWO Drive In Theaters in the Mansfield Ohio area; the Springmill Drive-In and the Sunset Drive-In. I just looked them up in the Yellow Pages! Thanks for the memories.

 

I wish I had one locally

 

We still have the Sixty Six Drive In (on old Rt 66) at Carthage, MO. It was closed
for several years and for a while used as an auto salvage yard. But the screen, building and
speaker posts were left in place. So, the current owner came along and put it back
into business.

It was a photo op stop as part of the HAMB drags in 2005.

They filmed a segment of Great American Road Trip tv show there
last summer. I took the Plymouth.....it and other nice old cars were
placed as a maze which the contestants had to negotiate while
blindfolded and receiving verbal directions from their family as to
which way to go.




There's also an old regular theater on Main St in Webb City, MO which has been
rejuvenated and is in part time operation. Shown below.

Joplin used to have a couple drive in movies, and later an x rated one with the
projection booth in the middle and small individual screens around it in a circle.
None left here now.

 

I'm originaly from Kalamazoo MI, Drive in I remember called Douglas Drive-in,. Gone now, but was happy to see the Neon Sign on display at the Ford Musuem, they have the sign (Douglas Drive-in) on one of the 50's display. Thought that was kind of neat.

 

There's still one in either Pilot Mountain or Mt Airy NC, Starlite. I grew up like three miles from the Thunderbird Drivein in Winston-Salem. What is sort of funny is that our telephone number was one digit off from the drive in and people would call us all the time wondering what was playing. We would tell them all sorts of crap. Spent alot of time at that place. Great thing was they had movies on Friday and Saturdays and on Saturday morning they had a real fleamarket. Now days there's no such thing as a fleamarket that doesn't have a bunch of new junk.

 

my uncle used to own one in north naples florida....the trail drivein...got squeezed out by development/city/county years ago.

 

The Starlight in East Atlanta is still going strong. It's large. I think 6 screens. I'm looking forward to Drive-Invasion after missing last year.

 

I miss going to the drive-ins. Anyone know of one close to Austin?

 

ha ha -- you just remember the time you ran over your own big dam foot here in Kansas.

 

Hastings Drive-In, Pasadena, California
aka, "the Pasadena Passion Pit"
on Rosemead Blvd. just north of Route 66
long gone